The 2025 Call to the Bar, held on October 10, 2025, made news headlines due to the enrolment of some well-known personalities and ‘interesting’ figures into the Ghana Bar Association.
Following the ceremony, a debate has arisen about the Call to the Bar being focused on quantity rather than quality. Some have argued that the country does not need more lawyers. But is this the case?
The data, shared by The Law Platform, shows that since 1928, when the first Call to the Bar ceremony was held, the total number of lawyers the country has had is 11,607, with 6,362 being senior lawyers enrolled between 1953 and 2018, and 5,245 being junior lawyers enrolled from 2019 onwards.
This figure leaves the country with a very low ratio of lawyers to the population — about one lawyer for every 5,000 citizens — which poses a major challenge to the delivery of justice.
In fact, the Call to the Bar was very restricted until recently, with fewer than 20 people being called to the Bar each year.
See media personalities who have officially joined Ghana Bar
Below is a breakdown of the number of lawyers enrolled in Ghana since 1928:
Only 11 people were called to the Bar in the then-Gold Coast in 1928, according to data provided by The Law Platform.
Between 1953 and 1957, the year Ghana gained independence, only 74 qualified lawyers were called to the Bar.
Between 1958 and 1962, when Ghana became a republic, 261 people were called to the Ghana Bar. The highest number of people called to the Bar in the 4th Republic until 2022 was 549.
However, in 2022, an unprecedented 1,075 lawyers were called to the Bar, and this number increased to 1,092 in 2023.
In the 2024 Call to the Bar, the number reduced to 959, and further reduced to 945 for the 2025 call.
Below is a breakdown of the number of lawyers called to the Bar since 1928:
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Watch as NDC’s Eric Adjei dedicates call to the Bar to late Akwatia MP Ernest Kumi
